Art Dealer Brett Gorvy Shares His Instagram Tips

Brett Gorvy has a favorite pastime: Instagram. The former longtime head of postwar and contemporary art at Christie’s famously Instagrammed a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting of Sugar Ray Robinson and two days later, landed a buyer, at $24 million. For his feed, Gorvy, now co-owner of Lévy Gorvy Gallery, combines art and poetry—juxtaposing a painting by Willem de Kooning with words by poet George Seferis, or a Gustav Klimt with Pink Floyd lyrics—to deliriously popular effect.

Brett Gorvy. Photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images/AFP

At last count he had more than 70,000 followers. We had questions, he had answers.

Which comes first: the image or the words?

I’m often inspired by the image, but sometimes I listen to music lyrics or am reading and the image comes to mind. I’m now a better photographer and writer because Instagram forces you to be concise in sharing ideas. As with art, structure and limitations are good.

What’s your Instagram process?

If I don’t complete a post in 20 minutes, I scrap it. I can do them anywhere, anytime. I don’t sleep that much, and I spend a lot of time waiting for taxis and planes. I like that this medium is 24/7, 365 days a year.

What’s your response to art-world people who are dismissive of social media?

I’d say you’re missing out because this is a fascinating window on the art world, especially on the creative process. Great artists like Richard Prince,Mark Grotjahn, and Cecily Brown are continually on Instagram, showing works in progress, in the studio, in real time. Sometimes it’s to the point where you think, When do you actually paint?!

What advice do you have for design and art collectors just starting out on Instagram?

It’s a great resource for exhibitions and helps you learn what’s out there—Lévy Gorvy posts every day—but never use it as an excuse not to see things in person.

Whom do you enjoy following?

I follow all the major museums and galleries. Edward Lee is a collector in London who suddenly started posting about six months ago. I love what he does. Phillipe Ségalot is a top art dealer who recently turned on to Instagram. He’s only got a few hundred followers, but in a few months it will be thousands because he’s a natural tastemaker.

Why have you taken to Instagram?

If you love the arts, it’s natural to want to communicate about it. It’s like a public diary. Hashtags are a social-media shorthand for everything you could write. One of the hashtags I often use is #sharethelove. For me, that’s what it’s all about.